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STORY: UN / SUSTAINABLE COOLING
TRT: 2:23
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 JULY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Exterior, United Nations
16 JULY 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable:
“About 1.1 billion people face significant risks from the lack of access to cooling. Those are sort of divided by, sort of you have about 470 million people in poor rural areas who don’t have access to safe food and medicines, about 630 million people in hotter and poor urban slums or informal settlements with little or no cooling to protect them against extreme weather spikes.”
4. Med shot, audience
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All:
“Previous research indicates that by 2050, work hours losses by country due to excessive heat and lack of access to cooling are expected to be more than 2 per cent and a high as 12 per cent in some places. The worst affected regions will be south Asia and west Africa.”
6. Close up, photographer
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All:
“And finally, the WHO warns that nearly 50 per cent of freeze dried and 25 per cent of liquid vaccines are wasted each year with cold chain disruptions being one of the biggest reasons.”
8. Wide shot, press conference
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All:
“So cooling for all is about how we make affordable, reliable sustainable cooling solutions that address people’s specific needs. Their needs for cooling, for comfort and for productivity, their needs for cooling to guarantee the safety of the vaccines supply chain, and the need of access to cold chain to guarantee the safety of their food.”
10. Wide shot, press conference
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All:
“It is important that we put cooling front and centre in the ways which we meet people’s needs. If we don’t, in the world that is warming, in the world that we are seeing and experiencing extreme variations in weather volatilities due to climate impact already. And in a world where more and more people are low incomes are moving into cities and people are living in very fragile and vulnerable circumstances on vulnerable land because of climate change, if we don’t address the needs that these people have for cooling, then we are buying a much more expensive, in terms of human life and in terms of economic growth and much more expensive problems in the future.”
12. Wide shot, briefing room
A report published today (16 Jul) by the UN-backed Sustainable Energy for All said that about 1.1 billion people face immediate risks from lack of access to cooling.
In reference to those 1.1 billion people, Rachel Kyte, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer for Sustainable Energy for All told reporters, "Those are sort of divided by, sort of you have about 470 million people in poor rural areas who don’t have access to safe food and medicines, about 630 million people in hotter and poor urban slums or informal settlements with little or no cooling to protect them against extreme weather spikes.”
The report “Chilling Prospects: Providing Sustainable Cooling for All” says that cooling underpins the ability of millions to escape poverty, to keep children healthy, vaccines stable, food nutritious, and our economies productive.
Kyte said “previous research indicates that by 2050, work hours losses by country due to excessive heat and lack of access to cooling are expected to be more than 2 per cent and a high as 12 per cent in some places. The worst affected regions will be south Asia and west Africa.”
The nine countries identified with the biggest populations facing significant cooling risks are India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, China, Mozambique and Sudan.
She also added that “the WHO (World Health Organization) warns that nearly 50 per cent of freeze dried and 25 per cent of liquid vaccines are wasted each year with cold chain disruptions being one of the biggest reasons.”
The report is said to represent an urgent call to-action and specific recommendations to government policy-makers, business leaders, investors and civil society to increase access to sustainable cooling solutions for all.
The Special Representative said “cooling for all is about how we make affordable, reliable sustainable cooling solutions that address people’s specific needs. Their needs for cooling, for comfort and for productivity, their needs for cooling to guarantee the safety of the vaccines supply chain, and the need of access to cold chain to guarantee the safety of their food.”
A growing middle class with limited purchasing options is said to present a different problem, with an estimated 2.3 billion only being able to afford to buy less expensive and less efficient cooling devices – a situation which could spike global energy demand with profound climate impacts. It is thought that cooling is now responsible for about 10% of global warming and growing rapidly.
The Special Representative reiterated that “it is important that we put cooling front and centre in the ways which we meet people’s needs.” She added “if we don’t, in the world that is warming, in the world that we are seeing and experiencing extreme variations in weather volatilities due to climate impact already. And in a world where more and more people are low incomes are moving into cities and people are living in very fragile and vulnerable circumstances on vulnerable land because of climate change, if we don’t address the needs that these people have for cooling, then we are buying a much more expensive, in terms of human life and in terms of economic growth and much more expensive problems in the future.”
